Crystal Chronicles
by LadyLunabell
Summary: Tony happens to run into an interesting woman that can either lead him to a better or chaotic life as he gets to know her better. What if there was a better technology that can benefit him more and the rest of the world? Would it be worth it?
1. Silent Meetings

**Note: This is more based upon movie-verse and then it will take it to its own direction. I haven't read the comics yet because I can't get a hold of them that easily here. So I don't mean to insult anyone with my lack of knowledge to the comics. Hopefully I can get my hands on the comics soon because I am going stir crazy trying to find them. lol **

**This is written for fun and fun only, the only thing I can take credit for is some of my own ideas for the story and my characters. They are Nalani, trackers and my hunters along with the two new villains.**

**I also tried my best to edit this thing to the best of my ability, which I'm not that good at and please bare with me. Unless someone can give me a hand or to with this. Anyway please enjoy this thing and feel free to let me know how I am doing. Please don't flame or rant about things pertaining to my fan fic.**

**Explaining Trackers and Hunters:**

**The only differences there are is size to be honest. Hunters have to be bigger then trackers, so they can either capture or kill their targets and trackers have to be small enough to locate the target. Which trackers have to be small so they can't be detected, think of spies more or less.**

**Chapter 1: Silent Meetings.**

When everyone was enjoying Tony Stark's Stark Expo, that showed how big his ego was growing over time. Tony gave his flashy entrance with the fireworks and the dancing girls like he usually did, followed by his infamous speeches. A robotic hawk was perched in a tree, hiding in the darkness and he wasn't focused on Tony. The machine watched carefully for someone that seemed more important then Mr. Stark at the time. The hawk spotted something moving through the crowd of people, who were cheering and applauding their hero, and whatever it was happened to slip back behind the stage area. The robotic hawk clicked its beck in annoyance before flying away unnoticed by the distracted Tony and his fans.

The target the Tracker or the robotic hawk was watching was a young woman. She was only five feet even with a slender build and looked like she weighed about 110 pounds. She had long beautiful hair that stopped at her waist that was a silver or a whiteish color, depending on the lighting in the area. Her skin color was paler then most humans, almost like an albino's skin color and she had really beautiful blue eyes. The woman looked like she was in her early to mid twenties but wasn't dressed like most women. The woman wore a plain tan dress that stopped at her knees and she didn't have any shoes on, a necklace was around her neck with a large light blue crystal hanging from it. Despite her simple outfit, the woman looked like she has been through hell and back. Her clothing was dirty and had some areas with small to medium tears in it, dirt was also found on her arms, legs, and face area as her hair was messed up. Someone or something besides that tracker was after her tonight, it looked like they weren't going to stop until she was caught from how this woman was reacting.

She pushed her way through the loud crowd, trying to find someone to help her. It seemed no one would pay much attention because of how she looked, no one would help someone who looked like they were a homeless person. The woman managed to push her way through the crowd and slip back behind the stage, knowing she would be safe back here for now. She didn't think her attacker would pursue her in an area filled with a lot of people. The woman wasn't paying much attention to where she was going, she felt her body bumping into something taller then her and whatever it was grabbed her wrists.

''What do you think you are doing back here ?'' Asked a deep voice that belonged to one of the guards that were on duty, he was making sure no crazy fans snuck back there and ruined the Expo Tony had worked so hard to put on. The woman froze as she looked up at the guard and was trying to figure out how to respond to the 6 foot guard that towered over her. The woman sunk back a little as the guard was trying to get her to answer him. ''You know you are not suppose to be back here woman.'' The guard stated as he looked at the woman, noticing something wasn't making the woman pay attention to him. He gently shook the woman to get her attention. '' Did you hear me?''

The woman froze as she heard something coming their way, turning to the guard and grew pale in the face. She wanted to tell him to run if he knew what was best for him, although she couldn't get the words out in time before a loud roar of a machine jaguar was heard. A large machine Jaguar came barreling into the area and was eyeing up the woman before letting out another roar, which it was also called a Hunter. The guard let go of the girl, taking out his walkie talkie to call for back up since no one could hear the commotion behind the stage due to the loud music, cheering, and everything that was going on stage. Before the guard could call for back up and get Tony's attention on the walkie talkie, the Hunter tackled the guard and gave the woman a chance to run away from it. A few more guards game up to the machine and tried to stop it from attacking and the same thing happen to them when they were trying to get more help to stop this this thing from attacking. The woman made a bee line for the stage without thinking about where she was going, the only thing on her mind was getting away from the hunter as fast as possible. The woman was looking back as she ran onto the stage when Tony was finishing up his speech that got everyone rallied up. Tony wasn't paying attention to the woman that came onto the stage and was cut off from his speech when she collided into him. The two went flying into the floor, with Tony landing on top of the woman and the audience went dead silence as the scene didn't look to good.

Tony and the woman were looking at each other, Tony was trying to figure out what was going on. The woman had a look of panic on her face as her eyes met Tony's eyes, trying to find a way to tell him that a Hunter was after her and that he should run for the hills. She didn't know who Tony was due to a few things about her situation and now wasn't the time to explain everything to anyone. Tony got up as he was trying to remain calm and not make a big deal out of this as he help the woman up. Once she got up to her feet, the Hunter came onto the stage and was advancing towards her and Tony, growling and preparing itself for an attack. The woman clung to Tony Stark for dear life as people started to panic, running out of the area for their lives. ''Okay miss I am going to need you to let go.'' Tony said while looking at the Hunter and then at the woman, hoping she would do what he said. '' I can't help anyone if I have someone clinging to my arm.''

The Hunter slowly advanced to the two, the woman looked up at Tony and nodded her head. She let go without a warning and then bolted to the other end of the stage. Before Tony could get his Iron Man suit back on, the Hunter darted past him once the woman started to run. It almost knocked him to the ground when it whipped past him and that baffled him because most of the time things came after him and not an innocent bystander. This made him question the reason why it wanted the woman over a wealthy hero that was know all over the world. The woman ran as fast as she could as the Hunter was catching up pretty quickly and the poor woman's body was tiring out, which was making her an easy target now. The woman tripped, landing flat on her stomach and the Hunter caught up to her, pouncing on the woman and picked her up in its mouth. The woman was beating up on the Hunter's mouth but gave up after it wasn't doing much good, it was a wasted effort on her part. The Hunter started to run off with the woman, she couldn't scream for help since she was silenced and the poor woman was terrified as she was being carried away by this thing. The wind was whipping against the woman's face as the Hunter was running, taking away her breath at times. She kept fighting back her hair in hopes to see if anyone was going to see her. Then out of nowhere the woman thought she saw something zipped by her that was red and yellow, causing her to be caught off guard. All of the sudden the woman felt the hunter coming to a sudden stop, causing her to slide forward in the hunter's mouth and forced the air out of her chest.

The woman looked up to see what caused the Hunter to stop like that and noticed what she considered a robot standing ten feet in front of them. She would describe it as a human shaped one that was red and yellow, not knowing it was Tony Stark as Iron Man. The woman froze in fear not knowing if this one was coming after her or not but she knew she couldn't run away from them both. The Hunter whipped around to its left side and that made the woman slide somewhat backwards, the wind whipped against her face and she lost her breath for a second. _"Not again" _She thought as the Hunter tried to carry her off again as it seemed like it didn't want to fight. The woman was starting to feel a bit sore from being in the Hunter's mouth due to being whipped around like a rag doll. Although she was starting to feel sick from the quick movement as she wasn't use to being whipped around like this. The woman started to beat on the Hunter's mouth again as she wanted to be let go from this thing. She had it and all she wanted was to be let go before she got sick in her stomach. After all the woman was a human and not some rag doll to be treated roughly like this. The woman was so determined to get free that she kept beating on the mouth to the Hunter even though her hands were turning red until she was flung forward in the machine's mouth.

The woman cursed silently in her mind as she looked up noticing Iron Man had the Hunter by the tail. At that sight, She wanted to land into him for not being careful. Did he forget that there was a person in this thing's mouth. The Hunter look back and noticed that Iron Man had it by its tail. It turned whipped around and tried to pounce on him, with the woman clinging to its mouth. She had her eyes closed as she was afraid to see how this was going to play out. _'' Great I am going to die thanks to this cat.'' _The Hunter managed to pin Iron Man but was struggling to keep him pinned. The woman slowly opened her eyes to see what had happened. She looked down to see the Hunter had Iron Man pinned and was struggling to keep him pinned. The woman had a bad feeling that she was going to be flung again or even worse, crushed to death. Iron Man looked up noticing the woman was still alright but she was scared to death. Iron Man slowly pushed the Hunter off of him and punched the thing in its side with one heavy blow, causing it to fly sideways by mistake. Luckily the Hunter landed on its feet but it had a large dent in its side with sparks coming out of it. The woman thought she was going to die for sure when the Hunter went flying sideways. She held her breath while praying for her life until she felt the thing landing on its feet. The woman looked over to see what condition the hunter was in, she grew pale in the face when she heard and saw sparks coming from its side where the hole was. _'' Great I am going to die since this thing is going to explode.'' _The woman just let out a silent sigh as she was giving up since nothing looked like it was going to go in her favor.

The Hunter tried to move but when it tried to turn around to attack, it froze in its tracks. It sounded like it was short circuiting and the gears were sticking, causing the thing to shut down. The Hunter's body started to twitch and spark as the mouth started to loosen the grip on the woman. Without much of a warning the Hunter just drops the woman and she landed flat on her back, causing the to be forced out of her body for a bit. The Hunter was shutting down and starting to fall over, the woman forced herself to get up and darted out of the way when the Hunter hit the ground. The woman fell onto her butt, looking at the Hunter and was catching her breath as Iron Man walked up to her, The woman froze when she saw the shadow that belonged to Iron Man forming around her. She slowly looked up to see him hovering over her, the woman quickly got up to her feet and slowly backed up with an unsure look. The woman showed signs of not trusting this one since she had her encounter with the Hunter. Tony make his helmet open up and he looked at the woman while extending his hand to her. The woman noticed it was the man she collided with on the stage but she had no idea why he was wearing that robotic suit. '' Its alright, I won't hurt you or anything. But could come with me and explain why that thing was after you?'' Tony said in a gentle voice to help calm the woman down so she could answer him. The woman took his hand as he helped her up to her feet but she didn't answer him. The woman looked at him and tried to sign her answer with her hands, which shown that she was mute and signing was her only way of replying if she couldn't write. Tony noticed that and figured this was going to take awhile since he didn't know sign language and didn't have anything for her to write on. He politely interrupted her so she didn't waste her time signing something he couldn't understand. ''I'm sorry miss but I don't understand what you are say. Could you come back to my car and come with me so I can help you more.'' Tony offered the woman and she looked at him, accepting his offer to help her. This was the first time she was actually smiling within a few days after she had been on the run from those hunters and trackers.


	2. Distractions and Answers

Note: This may sounded rushed and skimmed through in certain parts but I didn't want to have a lot of spoilers. It was following some of the 2nd movie. I thing the next chapter will be more interesting because I didn't want to make this thing go on much longer . I also admit to rushing this so I can get to the parts that will make this interesting, I hope.

**Ch. 2: Distractions and Answers **

Tony walked the woman back to the car without his Iron Man suit on. He knew he would be facing the military and a few others about what had happen with the Hunter. After all the military would be questioning about what had happen and be wondering if Tony some how started another threat or something related to that subject. Happy was sitting in the front passenger seat waiting for Tony to return after the events with the Hunter. Happy looked over to see Tony was coming back with the woman, shaking his head at Tony. It wasn't a rare sight to see him coming back with a woman but it seemed rare if the woman was the damsel in distress. '' So you couldn't resist taking the D.O.D back with you like everyone else?'' Happy teased as Tony smirked at his chauffeur but didn't reply to Happy's teasing. Tony opened the front passenger door while looking at Happy, '' And the Damsel that was in distress gets the front seat .'' Happy figured he couldn't argue with Tony when it came to women and he had to admit this new girl was easy on the eyes. So he got out and hopped into the back without protesting. ''So who is she? Where did she come from?'' Happy asked as he really wanted to know more then just that and figured that he could slowly chip away at the questions.

Tony helped the woman into the front passenger seat and got her situated before getting in himself. '' I wish I knew but I can't understand sign language because she is mute.'' Tony answered back as he climbed in the drivers seat and buckled up as he looked back at Happy. '' I don't think you know a interrupter or understand her yourself. I really wish I could understand her without a problem. I really want to know what that thing was and why it was after her. I never saw those things and you know the military might be over my ass again with another "reason" to try and get my Iron Man suit off of me. ''

''Yeah that thing looked like it came out of Michael Bay's dreams and became out nightmares. Although I wish I could understand the lady but I can't and we should look into things if you are going to help her.'' Happy answered while looking off to the side and noticed a young, attractive red head walking over to the car. ''Want to take a bet this other attractive lady is coming with a court order for Michael's creation?'' Happy said as he eyed up the young woman and that made Tony look over to see what Happy was talking about. The two men were talking quietly amongst themselves while the woman was looking at them if they were a bunch of idiots. _''What about me? I can answer questions with a pencil and paper.'' _She thought as she looked at Happy and Tony before turning to see the red head coming their way.

The red head was carrying the court summons and to her, the men had already forgot about her and the Hunter already. Before she realized it the two men were already greeting the other woman with some small talk, making the white haired woman slump down in her seat. She pushed it out of her mind and waited patiently until the men were done with their flirting to get back to her and focus on that Hunter. _'' Great we will be stuck here until she leaves and I'm the last thing on their minds.'' _The woman thought as she blew a few strains of hair in her face as she folded her arms across her chest. Although they caught her attention when she heard Tony mention he hated being handed things and then the two started to talk an flirt their way out of whatever the woman gave them. The woman glanced over at Tony and then to the red head with a smirk on her face as the words " Be there tomorrow" was mentioned by the red headed woman. _'' Serves you right.'' _Tony turned to Happy, '' I guess we have no choice to go to Washington D.C but its not for that thing that attack the Expo. Another weaponized suit defense program hearing, yay.'' Tony said dully as he started up the car and headed off to D.C with Happy and the new woman he saved. The woman was staring Tony down as they were heading to D.C with a look that said _"forgetting something or SOMEONE?'' _

Happy noticed the woman was a little peeved with Tony and they did forget about her situation due to the new distraction. '' Hey Tony? Do you have something she can write with? After all we could get answers while you are heading to that hearing.'' The woman looked back at Happy with a look that said thank you, it was about time she could give them a name and actually acknowledge her as someone. Tony let out a nervous chuckle as he just now remembered about the woman, ''In the back is a pen and a notebook. Get it and hand it to her so she can write. Oh yeah Happy I need you to read it for me.'' Happy was already on it once he heard those words leaving Tony's lips, handing the woman the notebook and the pen.

''Okay Miss, What is your name and where did you come from? I know you are not from here. I also want to know what that thing was that was chasing you.'' Tony asked while glancing over at the woman and she was writing down her response, then handing it over to Happy. Happy looked over the answer the woman written down and read it out loud for Tony, '' My name is Nalani and all I remember is waking up on the beach. Then that thing came after me and I don't know why but I think I heard someone calling them hunters. I didn't catch who it was because I was running for my life. So who are you ?''

Tony almost stopped the car out shock since Nalani had no idea who he was. He glanced over at her again , '' So you don't know who I am?'' Tony asked with a shocked tone to voice. '' I know I should be asking other things before asking that. But…its just that's a first for me and I guess you can say it's a very rare thing. So you have no idea who or what is behind that thing? There is nothing that you remember that stood out? I know you said you didn't see who it was because you were running from that Hunter. There could always be that chance that something stuck out to you.''

Nalani listen to Tony as he spoke while taking the notebook from Happy and when he finished talking, Nalani whacked Tony in the side with the notebook before writing her response. '' What was that for?'' Tony asked and Nalani looked up at him with a not so amused look. Happy took the notebook from Nalani when finished and he couldn't help but laugh at what she wrote. '' I think you made her a bit flustered and that's why she hit you with the notebook.'' Tony looked up into the rearview mirror and made a face at him, '' Very funny but has anyone ever heard of the rule about drivers? You know, you can't hit the driver with anything. Although I would love it if you read Nalani's answer.''

''I SAID I woke up not remembering anything before that. So NO I don't know WHO you are or anything. As for anything sticking out that would of caught my attention, I don't recall anything or anyone. If I remember anything prior to that, you'll be the first to know.'' Happy read out loud as Nalani was looking quite proud of herself. But on the inside it did trouble her that she couldn't remember where she came from or anything before waking up on that beach. '' So is there anything I should know? Like certain foods you can't have or don't like. I know I will have to be housing you and help you get things like clothing. I doubt you can go off on your own yet until those things leave you alone.'' Tony said after breaking 15 minutes of pure silence and Nalani got the notebook again, writing her answer in it again.

'' I'm not fussy when it comes to those kinds of things and I can have just about anything. You'll find that I am very low maintenance in the long run but I really do appreciate the help. If there is anything I can do to help you, let me know. '' Happy read out loud for the third time and didn't seem to mind it, after all he was helping a polite young woman. '' Well that's good to know because I really don't need to worry about another woman getting on my case. One is bad enough at times.'' Tony replied as he kept his eyes on the road and Nalani just gave him an odd look, deciding it might be a good idea not to ask. ''Anyway when ever I get some free time or find someone to take you around in D.C, you are getting some new clothes. I doubt you enjoy wearing that old thing. I'm guessing it might be Pepper's job while I'm getting ready for that hearing. ''

It was a smooth ride to Washington D.C. and they didn't get in until 11 at night, finally settling in the hotel rooms around midnight. Tony managed to find them a two bedroom suite for the time they were staying there, making Happy sleep out on the couch where the tv was at while Nalani and Tony got their own room. Of course Happy protested that and all he got from Tony was, "It would be weird if we shared a room and it wouldn't be nice to make a lady sleep on the couch. Plus it would be a distraction if she stayed with me.''. After getting things situated with the sleeping arrangements, Tony was sitting in his room talking to Pepper on his cell about tomorrow. While making arrangements for her and Nalani to go shopping before the hearing while Tony got ready for the hearing. The phone call was only 15 minutes long and Nalani came in after he hung up the cell phone, carrying the notebook with her. He looked up to see who came into the room and noticed it was for the Nalani, a slight smile appearing on his face. ''I have it all arranged for you tomorrow. I need you to go get something to wear to the hearing and a few other outfits as well. I'll have Pepper escort you around and I trust her to take care of you , don't worry she is a nice person. A bit rough around the edges at times but you'll get use to it, I had to anyway.''

Nalani gave a slight bow as if she was saying thank you before taking a seat next to him on the bed. She wrote something down on the notebook and showed it to him, _'' Are you going to be okay in the morning? I know that hearing might be rough and I don't want you to be stressing over it.'' _Tony read what she wrote and gently patted her on the head, ''Its no the first time something like this happened. The military keeps bugging me and trying to pressure me into handing over my Iron Man suite. Its nothing new and I'll be fine.'' Nalani smiled at him as if she was satisfied with his answer and got up, writing something on the notebook. Tony read it and looked up at her with a slight chuckle. '' Night Nalani and get your rest for tomorrow, Pepper will be here around 10 in the morning.''

Nalani and Pepper spent the morning hours getting Nalani's clothes like Tony requested. The two girls seemed to be getting along without any problems, although it took awhile to get Pepper to adjust to her. But Pepper made sure she brought an interrupter along with her to help her understand Nalani. The only thing that bugged Pepper was the fact Nalani didn't have anyone to help her learn how to speak or find devices to help her speak due to the fact she could hear perfectly clear. She did question Nalani about not being able to speaks and Nalani just told her she can't remember is she was always like this or not. The hearing was at 2 in the afternoon and they've finished up their shopping trip, making some time to get some lunch before dropping Nalani off of the hotel. Since Pepper didn't have time to stick around before the hearing, she didn't go up with Nalani. Nalani went up to the suite, only carrying a few bags and she walked in on the men getting ready. She let out a silent chuckle as this amused her since one would think girls were bad at getting ready.

Nalani went over to Tony's room, the door was open and he was struggling with a tie. It was 1 in the afternoon and they were trying to leave by 1:30. Nalani sat the bag down by the bed and went over to Tony, helping him with his tie. '' Thank Nalani .'' He said while Nalani was fixing his tie and she nodded her head slightly, saying your welcome. Everyone got out on time and made it to the hearing 10 minutes early. Pepper was already there and they've went into the room where the hearing was being held at. Happy waited outside as Nalani followed Pepper and Tony into the room, as the two were talking quietly amongst one another. Nalani was becoming curious about what they were talking about as she clutched her note book to her chest. Tony was wearing one of his suits and the girls were dressed in a business like outfit with a medium length skirts. The three of them took their seats and Nalani was looking around the room, taking in everyone that was there.

When the hearing started to proceed, Nalani was paying close attention to what everyone was sating and what was going on. Although she wasn't to thrilled about how Tony was handling it and was turning it into a three ring circus, making fools out of the senators. When Jim Rhodes was called to read a certain paragraph and to testify at the hearing, Nalani noticed that him and Tony seemed to be good friends from how Tony was taking it. The one that caught her attention the most was the man named Justin Hammer and she really made sure she paid close attention to this guy. From what Nalani heard with this guy speaking, she didn't trust him and she did have a feeling that Justin might be connected with those Hunters. When Rhodes was ordered to show the footage of what was supposedly the attempts at other countries tried to make with creating something similar to the Iron Man suit, Nalani watched the footage and she was trying to see if anything stood out to her. She was thankful when Tony hacked the system to show the things they were trying to hide from the public because that gave her more details on what was being created. Although it wasn't anything close enough that would be considered a Hunter being made or work on. It made another dead end for Nalani but she didn't let her get her down and it made Justin Hammer look innocent in this one. It wasn't enough to let him off the hook and when she saw the footage with him in them, that made her really not like the guy . He may not be after her but it could cause more chaos for the friend that was helping her.

The hearing finally ended with Tony being left off the hook and made Justin look bad on his end with the footage. Nalani was glad to be away from Justin and she left with Pepper, waiting by the car for Tony after Pepper left her there. Tony had to answer questions to answer and people to talk to after the hearing. Tony came out about an half an hour later and it was going on 4. ''Well I am ready do head to the nearest airport and head home on a private jet.'' Tony said in an excited tone of voice after gaining another victory. Nalani ran up to him and gave him a hug, as if to congratulate him on his victory. Tony looked down at Nalani and hugged her back for a few seconds. ''Thank Nami.'' He said with a smile and then got into the car with Nalani doing the same. The two didn't waste anymore time and headed off to the airport, so they can go to Tony's place.


End file.
